Three-way brush lock



Dec; 10, 1957 J. J. MccRlNK THREE-WAY- BRUSH LOCK Filed May 27, 1954 Joseph J. McCrin/r THREE-WAY BRUSH LOCK Joseph J. McCrink, West Orange, N. J.

Application May 27, 1954, Serial No. 432,659

2 Claims. (Cl. 306-30) The present invention relates to a device for locking a brush handle against rotation relative to a brush head to which the handle is threadably secured, and is similar in subject matter to my co-pending application, Serial No. 427,526 filed May 4, 1954, entitled Brush Handle Lock.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a brush handle lock for push-broom and similar types of handle and brush head connections, which locking device is exceedingly inexpensive to manufacture, which will positively prevent relative rotational movement between the brush head and the brush handle and which may be applied to the brush head and handle assembly without modification of either of these last mentioned elements.

A highly important object of this invention is to provide a brush head and handle locking device which provides in elfect a three-way locking action, the device being locked securely against rotation on the handle, the device locking the handle against rotation relative to the brush head and the device being locked in seating engagement with the brush head.

A further and important object of the invention is in the provision of a brush handle lock which may be stamped from a single, flat blank of material and then bent into shape.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a brush head and handle assembly to which the lock of the present invention is applied;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the assembly of Figure 1 taken substantially along the plane of section line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an elevational view of the blank from which the brush lock is formed; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a slightly modified brush lock.

Referring to the drawings in detail, attention is first directed to Figure 3 wherein there is disclosed a flat, rectangular blank ll of a suitable stiff, bendable material. At longitudinally spaced intervals on the blank are a pair of equal sized apertures 12 and 14, the aperture 14 being relatively close to one end of the blank and the aperture 12 being relatively further away from the other end of the blank. Between the large apertures 12 and 14 of the blank, a smaller aperture or opening 16 is provided, the aperture 16 being equally spaced from the edges of the blank defining the openings 12 and 14.

When the apertures 12, 14 and 16 have been stamped from the blank 1%, alternative procedures may be fol lowed. In the first procedure, a nut 18 may be spot welded or otherwise secured to the blank so that the bore of the nut is in registry with the aperture 16. Then the blank may be bent to form a pair of flat, parallel, spaced itd States Patent legs 20' and 22 respectively interconnected at one set of their ends by means of the bight portion 24 by bending the blank at the points indicated by the dotted lines 26 in Figure 3.

When so bent, the apertures 12 and 14 of the legs 20 and 22 respectively are in registering alignment with one another with the free end of the leg 22 overlying and terminating rearwardly of the free end portion of the leg 20.

The free end portion of the leg 20 serves as an extension indicated by the numeral 28 and is bent at an angle to the major plane of the leg 20 in diverging relation to the leg 22.

In the alternative procedure, the bending operation of the blank 10 remains the same; however, the nut is simply clamped in registry with the aperture In by the bending operation of the legs 20 and 22.

The result of these bending operations of the blank is an extremely simple and effective brush lock which may be applied to a brush handle and head connection as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

In these figures there is shown a conventional brush head and handle assembly, the brush head being indicated at 30 and the handle at 32. As is common practice, the lower end of the handle 32 is tapered and threaded as at 34 and threaded into a complementary bore 36 in the brush head 30.

To apply the brush lock formed from the blank 10 to this head and handle assembly, the lock is simply slipped over the handle 32 by virtue of the apertures 12 and 14 through the legs 20 and 22 and allowed to slip down the brush handle 32 until the leg 20 abuts the brush head 30. The angulated extension 28 of the leg 20 rests tangentially on the curved surface of the brush head. Then, threaded fastening element 38 threaded through the bore of the nut 18 abuts the handle 32 rigidly clamping the lock to the handle. Preferably, the blank is formed of sheet metal having some inherent resiliency so that the arms have a tendency to spread apart at the bight portion 24 so that when the lock is clamped in place, continuous pressure is exerted by the extension 28 on the brush head 30.

For simplicity in turning the threaded member 38, the same is provided with angulated head 40 in the form of a turning handle.

The free end of the extension 28 is sharpened into a blade 42 which may be utilized as a scraper to initially dislodge material from the floor or other area. to be swept.

In order to permit the lock to double as a means for hanging the brush and handle assembly on book or the like, the extension 28 is provided with a central aperture 44 which may be received over a supporting hook.

In the modification set forth in Figure 4, the lock is substantially identical to that previously described with the exception that the extension of the leg 20 designated by the numeral 46 in this figure is much shorter than the extension 28 previously described. When so shortened, the extension 46 will not serve as a scraper blade, but will serve as a locking surface against the head for the lock as does the extension 28.

Although the lock has been described with specific reference to brush and handle connections, it is equally adaptable to many tool and handle connections such as garden implements, paint scrapers and the like.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the tip pended claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In a brush which has a brush head and a handle separably attached thereto, a device for locking the handle with respect to the brush head, said device comprising a pair of resiliently connected parallel, spaced and generally flat legs, a flat strip perpendicular to and connecting said legs to one another at one set of ends thereof, said legs having aligned apertures therein through which the handie is passed, said strip having an aperture, a fastener normal to the handle, said fastener being passed through said strip aperture and contacting a portion of the handle between said legs and pressing against the handle and pushing it against a wall of the leg apertures to hold said legs in frictional engagement with said handle, one of said legs having a surface adjacent to its aperture which is in contact with a part of said head, and a flat extension on said one of said legs and contacting said head to further aid in holding the brush head against rotation with respect to the brush handle.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said fastening means comprises a screw, a nut mounted on the surface of said strip which is nearest to the handle and held captive between said strip and said pair of spaced and generally fiat legs so that said nut cannot rotate, and said screw being threaded through said nut to contact said handle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,279,444 Robertson Sept. 17, 1918 1,402,485 Fredriksen Jan. 3, 1922 2,163,979 Judson June 27, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,030,474 France Mar. 11, 1953 

